What We Feed Our Goats

Lover's Crystal here with Blue Cactus Dairy Goats and today we're going to go over what it is that we are feeding our goats. Good morning Lodi. You want to show everybody what you're eating here on the milk stand? Yeah? How you doing girl? All right so this is what we give them on their milk stand. It is a mixture of three different types of feed. We actually just mix them in these big barrels so that we have it all ready for us and this here is what I call the good good. This is what they love to eat. It's what gets them really excited to get up on the milk stand and that's important if you want them up there. Okay so again I was saying it is a mixture and so the first thing that goes in is going to be three parts neutrino goat feed 17 percent textured. Now this has minerals, it has kind of like a molasses coating on all of it and it just has grains in it so it's really really good for them. It's high in protein which helps them produce milk and keeps them happy. They think it's like candy to them so it's really really awesome and then here we're going to do three parts of black oil sunflower seeds. Now this is really really good for them. It's fiber and it also helps keep their coat really shiny, really pretty which of course I love. I don't know I know a lot of you guys notice that like the goats just kind of glisten in the sun. They have just such a really really beautiful coat and that says a lot. It says that they're really healthy so and I think this right here has a lot to do with it as well. I really love giving them black oil sunflower seeds and it also ups their milk and lastly we do one part of mountain sunrise alfalfa goat pellets. So these are really really awesome too. We used to feed the horse pellets and they'll eat them. It's harder on their teeth and they're just they're just a lot bigger. They're alfalfa pellets but they're a lot bigger so these ones are specifically for goats and they're small. Let me just show you and they're a lot easier to chew up for the goats. It doesn't, that cat is crazy you guys. It doesn't affect their teeth or hurt them or grind them down or anything which is they can say they do say that that is the case with horse pellets. Again just because they're so big. What's up boo? Speaking of big. Speaking of big, what are you doing? All right so again it is three part neutrino goat feed, 17 textured, three parts black oil sunflower seeds and one part mountain sunrise goat alfalfa pellets. So if you guys are local we get all of our feed at Benson feed supply and this is they carry they are actually a carrier of the mountain sunrise pellets and since we use these I mean I really really really love the goat pellets so I'm glad that we have that option. Now it just depends on obviously where you are located and what your feed store has to offer. You know so hopefully you have these things available to you because again they they have really really changed the way we feed our goats and they're just a lot healthier looking and I love it. So not to mention they really love it. Satisfying. What are you doing Okay so obviously in addition to feeding them on the stand they're going to get alfalfa pellets in in their pen as well. So we give them because they have the option to browse they get this medium scoop and they're going to get two of these in their pens in their different little feeders and they're going to get that daily and in the evening. Ain't that right Oh girl you're all done. Is that your liquor? Depending on the day if it's raining if I can let them out or if they're acting just a little extra hungry I do offer them alfalfa hay. So that's not something I give them all the time again because they do browse. We're fortunate enough that we're able to let our goats out to well when it rains and grows browse for us here which right now we are not suffering in that area so because of the browse they're able to forage they get the stems they get the roughage and it helps break down all of that food. So the roughage is extremely important. I would not recommend just feeding pellets just simply because they're going to need that fiber and they're going to need those stemmy and bark things like that that they love and again it just helps break down all of that food for them. So we will offer the alfalfa hay if needed. Look at them. So this here is you guys see the mineral? Okay so this here is some mineral that we have added into their diet as well. Now this is a free choice and free choice just simply means you can put it and fill up a little bin in there in their pen and they'll just in theory eat it as they need it. Well I find that they just won't stop eating it so I don't like to do that. What we do and it's if you see it here it just looks like a bunch of little tiny rocks and they go nuts for it. They just love it and so I feed it to them right here in their little trough. Just put well Bessie's gotta let me put it. I just do a little handful and I put it in a little pile and then they're like yum yum yum yum yum yum. Come on Bessie. You want some? Here we go. Yummy yummy. Here you go. You ready? So now you feed you ate all of your feed and I typically do this. I just wanted to show you guys so I hadn't put it first but when we feed it we do we'll put the the pellets in and then it'll just go right on top of of the food here. Abilene. There you go. Wildy. You love it. And then this way I way prefer this than giving free choice just simply because you get to see how much they get. Now when I'm giving them their little handful they're like how do you know that's just a handful? Well because it says each goat should have about that much every day. So so once a day that that is what they're supposed to be getting and it comes with a little scoop which the scoop kind of just one of the little scoops fits right in my hand. So whatever that's what I do. There you go. Look at that. You're so cute. All right Cammie your turn. There you go. Every time I get the bag out of course they just kind of go crazy. Now Leah and Mia that's something I've noticed too like with with the younger ones and and Honey and Pepper as well they're kind of just like just now starting to get the hang of it and and we've been feeding it to them for quite a while. Honey and Pepper really don't like it though. So here you go. So I'm trying to encourage them to eat eat it but you know some goats just don't like it and so again they would say oh well that's because they don't need it. Well not necessarily because you know you can see on their coats or you know you want to obviously watch their coat. That's going to be your first sign that they are deficient in something. If it's copper deficiency then they'll they'll just kind of get brown on their back legs or they can get fishtail which is just where they're losing hair on the tip of their tail. Darren turn your alarm off. Sorry. So they'll lose hair on the tip of their tail so it just kind of looks like the hairs are going out like that and fishtail. Girl uh-uh you had your share. You have to wait. You'll get more tomorrow. But they love this stuff and again this year the doe herd I did not I didn't copper them because they don't have any copper deficiency because I've been feeding this or because we've added this in their diet. So I'm pleased with it. I love love love this mineral. See like no joke you guys. They see the orange bag and they're like give me more. You got your liquor out girl. You don't need more. You don't need no more. No. They're crazy. Funny girls. Thank you Betsy. I just wanted to show you guys if you see how this black goat here. Now this is Honey. Maddie I'm really not trying to show you Honey. That's okay Mads. Um she's getting just kind of a little bit reddish hair here. So I hope you guys can see that because I know we're under the tent and all. And just a little back here too. So I did that again as a sign of copper deficiency. And so I did get Honey and Pepper because they just don't like to eat the mineral. I'm always gauging and just watching their coat and just making sure that they look healthy. And if I see any of those signs then then that's when I'm going to copper them or or do something you know give them extra mineral that they need. So let's get on the other end here and I'll show you how much Honey and Pepper really don't like their mineral. And because I said that you watch. They're going to eat it down. Do you want some Maddie? All of a sudden you're looking like you like me. Uh-huh. All right so here's here's Honey. We're gonna give her her little scoop. And she's gonna get mad and eat all around it and say yuck. Why did you put that in my dish? Honey. Yeah she keeps she tries. She just sniffed it again but she will not eat it. Um so if they're not going to eat this extra mineral then again that that's why I did copper her. And I could see it just starting in in her back legs. It was getting a little brown. You love it huh girl? Look at you. Now you'll be nice. If I give her mineral she likes me but that's it. Mia. Mia is starting to get the hang of it. Here you go. She's like I know I like it but I don't like it. Yeah look at you. All right you don't have a problem with it do you Cassie? Yum yum yum. All right here girl. Here it is. Oh may. Here you go girl. Right there. It's like a treat for them. And keep some healthy and shiny. All right thank you Ruger. Tippy you want yours? And pepper. Pepper. She's a little better than Honey but not much. Oh look at you. She's learning. Oh she's actually eating it way better than she usually does. So that's good. Good job. All right here you go Ray. There you go. Now we're gonna just get these girls milked out and then we're gonna let them out to browse. The last thing that the goats obviously eat around here um you know again when we're fortunate enough and get enough rain for the grass to grow is our native grasses. So they get to browse for the whole day as long as it's not raining or anything like that. And there's several different native grasses that we have on our land as well as little little tiny bushes like fairy dusters. We have cactuses that they absolutely love to eat for some reason. I don't know why but they do. And destroy. And destroy. And of course we've got mesquite and then they love the mesquite bark and they love the mesquite leaves. And then when they grow the beans they really really love the mesquite beans. So they get to browse on all of these different things that we have here and they get to go just pick and choose what their favorites are. Now depending on how the grass is like if it's super super green and lush they'll just eat the seed heads off of the top if there is any. And if there's not they're just kind of more looking for fairy dusters or they're looking for the mormon tea bush you know things like that. So if the grass is super green they typically just leave it alone. They don't really like the green grass but once it's kind of um no not my hair. Once it's the color of my hair it's their favorite. And so if you guys can see that it's not it's starting to get yellow and you can probably see better um you know or or golden but um you know it's it's not as green and and lush. So it's the perfect bite right now where it's just a little bit of green um and and you know it is starting to turn yellow. That is when it is their favorite favorite. So this here looks like a mormon tea bush that you have eaten all the green off of except that one little spot that Wildy's trying to eat. And then here I guess but then that just continues to grow back once we move them and browse them on another area um this bush will grow back and then they get to eat it back down again. Huh? Isn't that right Daisy? Wildy you're finding a couple little green spots. And then there's this here yeah let's see if you guys can see it is a little bit of a fairy duster. So they've eaten all the leaves off it but they really really favor these fairy dusters um and they get these really cool little pink flowers on them and when they're flowering that's when it's absolutely their favorite. So they're not really eating on them too much right now. And then we just have a bunch of bunch grasses. So they do not like Bermuda or like anything we have in the backyard that type of grass. They won't eat it. They might like to lay down in it but they absolutely will not eat it. So they like this more stemmy kind of a kind of a grass. Ain't that right? How are you Abilene? And over here of course we have Cammy trying to be a loner but Leia's not having it. And then this is just a mesquite. So they love to eat all the little leaves and if it's a big enough tree that has some bark on it they love to eat the bark off. Their stomachs are quite amazing at what they can actually break down for them. Here is a yucca. Now these yuccas they really really like to eat on um and they love to the taller ones actually they love to scratch on but they more like this uh this isn't a taller one so they really haven't attacked it too much but once it dies this bottom stuff here that's what they really like to eat. Are you gonna show them Lodi? Yummy yummy. You're following me today huh? Sweet girl. Love the yuccas. It's a scratching post and it's nutritious. Come here. All right this is the cactus that they tend to favor. Um actually it's the only one that they that they eat that we have on the property. So this one here is the prickly pear and it's just a little guy but they either haven't seen it or they're not in the mood for it right now and they do decide to change what they favor browsing on just depending on the season. And here's a little cactus um these are actually called hedgehogs and they don't like them. Here's another mormon tea bush that they have gone to town on and this here is too high for them to reach so that's why there's some green left on it still but they're very very hardy plants here they actually just continue to grow back so again once we take them off of this plot um and move them to somewhere else this has an opportunity to grow back because it'll be at least a year before they're back on this line. This mean mean mean mean cactus right here is called the jumping cholla. It's called the jumping cholla because it jumps at you. If you barely even touch it it sticks to you like glue like a very very painful sharp stabbing glue. Allow me to demonstrate. Yeah show them Dan. I'm just kidding. Give that give that cholla a big old hug. High five buddy. That pretty much covers what these goats of mine are eating um and whatever we feed and and it's it's been really really helping their coats um you know they're healthy they're good they're awesome and they're happy. They're shiny. Yeah they're very shiny goats um but yeah so anyway that that's just what what we feed and of course again you guys you're gonna have to check your local feed store um or tractor supply things like that because there's there's a good chance that you have some of the same things um available if not the same then then somewhat the same and uh you know I know a lady in Florida that she can only get peanut hay so and we don't have peanut hay here um so if you don't have access to alfalfa there are other hays that you know are high in protein that you could you could feed your goats so again you're gonna have to check your local feed store and ask them what they feel is best to feed to feed goats so our feed store is pretty awesome and supplies some really really top-notch food for us again Benson feed store and we love it so we're we're lucky we're fortunate and we also have plenty of access to alfalfa which uh pound for pound is definitely the best hay that you can give your does um give your goats rather it's just really really high in protein so um to that I will also add it does depend on the season what's going on with the goats are they producing milk how much you want to feed um you know if they're producing milk you you want high protein so that they build that milk or that they make that milk and keep weight on their body um you know if they're if they're kidding if they're just just depending on what's going on so all of this nutritious food that these goats get um they turn it in to some lovely lovely milk that we get to make soap with I don't know about you guys but I am ready to start making some soap out of the dough's lovely lovely milk so as I told you guys we are doing our winter soaps right now so that they will be ready um in about six weeks or so and I showed you guys that I had started making the candy cane bar now this is such an amazing bar you guys so not only does it have uh two different types of kaolin clay so it's got the purple kaolin clay and white kaolin clay to pull out any impurities um and just help your skin obviously and then um it has a lot of peppermint in this bar so peppermint is one of those essential oils that just makes you more alert and it's a great one to use in the morning it just helps wake you up and again just kind of just gives you this sense of alertness so it's a great bar so it's got that deep red color and then the kaolin clay just helps it be a little bit wider than than just say normal goat milk soap so that's why I add the kaolin clay in it too but again love this love this bar so we are going to start making it we're going to start with our peppermint essential oil and put that down here in our oils now I don't mention it every single time but I have had some people asking so the oils that I use I only use four different oils I've tried lots of lots of different variations with other oils and stuff and this here of course I won't give you the exact recipe but the oils are just olive oil castor oil shea butter and coconut oil and I just found that after a couple years of trial and error this recipe that I finally came up with was like that's the one I love it and then the best part the doze milk thank you ladies and then we are also going to add in a purple kaolin clay for half of the soap and then the other half is going to get the white kaolin clay that purple is going to turn this deep red color once it hits the lye I just put the powder without adding the oil I just wanted you guys to see what the color is is that just it's such a beautiful purple and of all the kaolin clays that I use um I've used a lot this is the only one that doesn't hold true to its color after the you know after you make the soap so it is kind of a bummer but I do love the deep red color that it gives me all right we're just going to mix this up get that blended there we go now because of the method um that I have to use with this particular soap I'm not making a double batch and it's kind of I don't like it it's like a little bit of soap in here but um either way I wouldn't be able to pour it into the molds and give you guys the good view um with the camera so that's why we're just doing a single for this because I did still want to show you guys now for the lye okay we're going to blend this up but just until it's barely barely blended because we still have to blend in the clays and we need this pretty runny for it to out okay that is blended so we just want half and half I'm going to fill up our little jars here man this is weird not working with very much soap here let's see I'm going to try to get it as even as possible I'm just going to blend the white first try to burp that get the bubble out of there and then we'll blend the purple okay I know it doesn't look like much when you add the white kaolin but in the outcome once the soap is cured and done it does make a difference all right I don't want to blend it anymore let's get this out of the way okay so I got my block here right it's just pretty much a tilter for my um mold here and then we are going to alternate pouring in the different colors so I'm going to start with the white and just along the side here just kind of a little back and forth now the other one just doing it right along the edge trying not to spill it outside of the mold which I'm really good at well and then we just do this back and forth and then once it fills a little more we're gonna drop it cool and I'm going to pull this out just a bit dropper and I can continue to pour oh my gosh I'm getting so lucky soap is not doing me dirty and thickening up too quickly oh how cool is this you guys I like making this bar it's fun and different okay almost hear Emily in there yelling at her dog for biting her cat that won't quit clawing her I would probably bite the cat that clawed me too but okay let's see okay that's almost full see if I can get one more white line in here come on that's too much all right now I'm just going to kind of shake it a little all right so that is how you pour it in there um and then again just to give it that swirly here I'll show you see that see that see that that's how it looks so cool huh all right let me just clean up my sloppiness and then we'll show you how we top this bad boy for this topping we're just going to take the skewer and kind of go zigzag this way and then this way and it just gives this really pretty um swirly kind of a kind of a look okay so we're just going to go like this all the way down it already looks beautiful something about that swirl man okay now we're just going to go and that is the topping I just think that is so gorgeous I can tell this is still pretty runny I got lucky lucky lucky with this time so check her out oh it's just lovely and it smells lovely as well okay guys so obviously our Christmas soaps aren't going to be out for a while our fall soaps are almost out um here within the next week or so but until then you can always head on over to the Etsy shop we have a ton to choose from there's literally something for everybody um no matter what scent you like um you know the benefits you're looking for for your skin it all just kind of describes everything in each description of each soap so head on over to the shop there is a link for our Etsy shop in the description below and get yourself some soap your skin will thank you and other than that you guys I got a lot more work to do and a lot more soap to make for the day so I'm going to head out here and I will see you guys again soon